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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1453727

Awareness, Attitude and Acceptance of Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease Among Health workers and Caregivers at Primary Healthcare Centers in Gwagwalada Area Council, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Provisionally accepted

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Newborn Screening (NBS) is a public health program designed to identify and provide early interventions for infants with genetic disorders such as Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Lack of awareness and unwillingness to participate in the NBS by caregivers and some healthcare workers are major contributing factors impeding NBS for SCD. Objective: To evaluate the level of awareness and acceptance of NBS for SCD and the determinant factors influencing caregivers in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , Nigeria. Method: The study employed a descriptive, quantitative design using questionnaires administered to healthcare workers and caregivers at immunization and antenatal clinics of 10 selected Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC) in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja , Nigeria Result: A total of 357 participants, comprising 301 caregivers and 56 health care workers responded to the questionnaires. Among the caregivers, 171(57.2%) were not aware of NBS for SCD. Two hundred and ninety (97%) expressed willingness to participate in the NBS. However, 32(10.6%) indicated reluctance to accept positive results of SCD. The majority, 175(59.1%) of the caregivers strongly agreed that NBS for SCD helps in the early detection and management of SCD, while 7(2.4%) disagreed. Notably 272(90.4%) of the caregivers had secondary and tertiary education. Among the healthcare workers, 39(73.6%) were aware of NBS for SCD and 30(73.2%) had recommended it to caregivers. Conclusion: This study revealed a low level of awareness of NBS for SCD among caregivers. However, there was a high level of acceptance among them. The level of awareness is high among healthcare workers. Education emerged as the major factor determining the knowledge and attitude of caregivers towards NBS for SCD.

    Keywords: Awareness, Attitude, Newborn screening, Sickle Cell Disease, Care givers

    Received: 16 Aug 2024; Accepted: 20 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Oparaugo, Chianumba, Ajetomobi, Fasina, Isa and Nnodu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Chisomaga Ifeanyi Oparaugo, Centre for Sickle Cell Disease Research and Training, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
    Hezekiah A Isa, Centre for Sickle Cell Disease Research and Training, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.